The Book of the
Prophet Daniel
“… some stopped the
mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire!” Hebrews 11:33, 34
Chapter 5:1-31 The Last Straw
1. King Belshazzar made a great feast
for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.
2. Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine,
commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father
had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his
lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.
3. Then they brought in the golden
vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem,
and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from
them.
4. They drank wine and praised the gods
of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5. Immediately the fingers of a human
hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace,
opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote.
6. Then the king's color changed, and
his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked
together.
7. The king called loudly to bring in
the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the
wise men of Babylon, "Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its
interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around
his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom."
8. Then all the king's wise men came
in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the
interpretation.
9. Then King Belshazzar was greatly
alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed.
10. The queen, because of the words of
the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared,
"O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color
change.
11. There is a man in your kingdom in
whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and
understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and
King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the
king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and
astrologers,
12. because an excellent spirit,
knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve
problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let
Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation."
Of all the accounts
of history that are available, none are as authentic as those of God’s
historians. That is as it should be, because for that purpose God has raised
them up in the most strategic places. There are quite a number of secular
individuals, who have written of Babylonian history and its kings. However,
they wrote from a distance, in time and place, whereas Daniel’s had, we might
say, “a ring-side seat”, writing from the palace of the emperors in the city of
Babylon. No one saw these occurrences with more clarity and detail than he had.
Yet the world, in its rebellion, tend to give secular writers more credence and
criticize Daniel.
When it comes to the
life of Jesus Christ, no historical records of ancient history are more
accurately confirmed than the four Gospels, written by eye witnesses or those
very closely associated with them. We conclude that the Bible is the greatest historical
authority available. Constantly, as time unfolds, more evidence is discovered,
proving its authenticity. We, who are believers, know it to be inerrant and
only to be criticized by men out of rebellious unbelief. That, in itself, goes
to prove the biblical assessment that “the
whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 Jn.5:19).